NRI News ( Page 1 of 13 )

An Indian origin businessman based in New Hampshire has been fined by the court for a whooping $40,000 along with three-year probation by a federal court for filing false information in the H-1B visa application, according to a US attorney.
The documents released by court said that an Indian-origin businessman Rohit Saksena has pleaded guilty for making false statements in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. 42-year-old Saksena, who is a President and CEO of Saks IT group LLC, company based in Manchester, New Hampshire, has allegedly filed 45 fraudulent visas in order to hire more people for providing service to a california-based company.
According to the US Department of Justice, various malpractices have been found in the activities by the Saksena’s company file filing visa applications including some bogus independent contractor agreements.
However the department has said that the visa applications by Saxena have been rejected after finding about the deception by him.
By Prajakt K.

Dilip Chauhan, an Indian-American, has been appointed on the senior position of Nassau County in New York. He will work in order to increase the reach to the minority community.
The statement released by the government stated that Chauhan has been appointed as the Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs of Nassau Country by the Comptroller George Maragos. Chauhan has been working with the Comptroller’s office since 2015 as the Director for Community Affairs, South and East Asia along with the adviser to Comptroller since 2017.
The statements also stressed on that minority community is an integral part of the social fabric of the Nassau County and although the Comptroller’s Office is doing its best for the minority community, a lot more has to do on the rights of the minority community.
In a statement released by Chauhan, he responded on his new responsibility that he is honored to be appointed as the Deputy Comptroller and will work to create equal opportunities for the whole minority community.

Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen and former US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy are among 38 immigrants, who will be honored this year for their contribution to the country's society, culture, and economy.
Narayen and Murthy will be honored with the prestigious 'Great Immigrants' annual award on US's Independence Day on July 4.
Born in the UK 39-year-old Murthy, is a Harvard and Yale alumnus. He was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014, becoming the first Indian-American to occupy the post and also the youngest surgeon general of the United States.
However, Murthy was dismissed this year in April by the Trump administration.
54-year-old Narayen is a native of Hyderabad. He holds a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering, a master's in computer science and an MBA from UC Berkeley.
He is a board member of Pfizer and US-India Business Council.
Among other honorees include Canadian-origin social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, PayPal co-founder of Ukrainian-origin Max Levchin, Iranian-origin philanthropist and entrepreneur Hushang Ansary.
Each year since 2006, the corporation has recognized the contributions of naturalized citizens, and for 2017, the honorees represent more than 30 different countries of origin, a wide range of personal immigration stories, and a high-level of professional leadership in numerous fields.
"Our annual tribute to 'Great Immigrants' demonstrates the richness of talent, skills, and achievements that immigrants from around the world bring to every sphere of American society," said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
"This campaign reminds us of the debt the United States owes to generations of immigrants who become citizens and contribute to the progress of this country. Today, we celebrate and thank them," he said.
The honorees will be recognized with a full-page public service announcement in The New York Times and an online public awareness initiative.
In keeping with this mandate, the corporation's agenda focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and a strong democracy.
Amandeep

Rishi Shah, an Indian-American, who stepped out of college 10 years back to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams, has become the self-made billionaire in Chicago. And also Shah’s business partner, Shradha Agarwal, is just close behind.
A break came to them with $600 million infusion of the venture capital into Outcome Health, the Chicago health care tech company, which they founded in the year 2006. The company is now valued at $5.6 billion.
Shah grew up in Chicago suburb of the Oak Brook, and is the son of a doctor who emigrated from India, Shah’s mother managed his father's medical practice. The first idea inspired for the Outcome Health in providing content to the doctor's offices, Shah said in an interview to the local media.
Shah studied in the Northwestern University as a transfer student, where he met Shradha Agarwal, who is presently the president of Outcome Health. While working on the campus magazine, both of them have eventually found a company called ContextMedia, out of Northwestern in the year 2008, funding the company from loans which have over the years reached the aggregate of $325 million instead of giving up the equity.
Knocking on the doctor's office doors around the Chicago area, they have found a little hope in their idea.Some doctors have not seen the value in digital education in their offices, and others who did wanted to see the revenue to feel comfortable committing to such a fledgling product. However, without signing to them, the entrepreneurs had no revenue with which to placate them. They earned the revenue of $1 million in that first year.
CEO Rishi Shah, aged 31, president of Shradha Agarwal have founded ContextMedia in the year 2006, while two were at the Northwestern University. The company has began to sell its video monitor services to the physicians and hospitals without any kind of outside investment.
Over a decade, the company grew up and the big-time investors have noticed the company, but Shah and Agarwal passed up the offers in order to scale organically and also to retain the ownership. In the month of January, the company has changed its name to Outcome Health as it slowly stepped towards the first major round of funding.
As per Crain's, the company took more than $130 million in revenue in the last year and also posted an operating profit margin of roughly 40%. Outcome Health has doubled its revenue during each of the last two years, and it has also grew with its acquisition of AccentHealth in the last November.
Indian-American Appointed As Judge Of US Court of Appeals
Mrudula Duddempudi.

President Donald Trump has appointed an Indian-American, Amul Thapar as a judge of US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, said the sources from White House.
Before Thapar’s appointment as judge on the US Court of Appeals, he has served on the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
48-year-old Thapar has been confirmed as judge in the by the Senate votes of 52-44, on the party lines.
Thapar, son of the Indian-American immigrants, is the Nation’s first Article III judge of the South Asian descent.
Thapar, in addition to his career on the Federal bench, he also served as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and as the Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Columbia.
On the aggregate, Trump has nominated 10 judges to the lower courts, Thapar was one among them, who is the Trump’s first judicial confirmed by the Senate, apart from Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed as the Supreme Court judge.
Thapar has begin his legal career in a private practice, after interning with Judge S Arthur Spiegel of the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and also with Judge Nathaniel R Jones of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Thapar has received his BS from the Boston College in the year 1991 and also his JD from the University of California, in Berkeley.
In the South Asian Bar Association of North America's (SABA) National Advisory Council, Thapar is a member, and he has served as the keynote for Annual Convention.
SABA awarded Thapar with its Pioneer Award in the year 2010.
He has also studied at the University of Virginia School of Law, Vanderbilt Law School, also at the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law.
Decline In US Visas For Pak; Rise For India
Mrudula Duddempudi.

An Indian-origin restaurant owner in Durban, South Africa is surrounded by controversy after his restaurant charged ‘20 Rand’ to use the toilets on the premises.
Junaid Moola, who is the owner of Jolly Grubber, said that charging R20 (approximately Rs. 95) was the only way to keep away people from visiting the restaurant who abused the facilities that his staff maintained for the free use of his customers who bought food at his premises.
Reza Khan, a customer posted on his Facebook page that they were given a receipt of R40 after they were initially stopped from using the toilet before they paid.
"My cousin asked if we could not buy cool drinks instead, but we were told cool drinks don't qualify," Khan posted.
"In my whole entire existence on this earth, this is the most expensive p*** I've ever taken," Khan said.
There is a sign at the entrance of the restaurant that reads: "Toilets are for use of Jolly Grubber customers only. Buying just drinks will not qualify you to use these facilities. Therefore, it is unlawful, dishonest, theft, haraam to use this facility without permission."
"Service charge of R20 per person, payable at the counter. This is not a public toilet."
"This is not a question about humanity, compassion nor religion, there are free public facilities just a stone's throw away," said the restaurant, which also maintains a 'Namaaz room' for Muslim patrons to perform their prayers free of charge.
A municipal working in the department licensing public restaurants said that R20 did appear to be "a bit exorbitant", but the restaurant was well within its rights to charge without contravening its licensing conditions, as restaurants require to ensure that it has toiler facilities available for its customers.
Donald Trump appoints Indian-American to key Federal energy agency
AMandeep

President Donald Trump has appointed Indian-origin Neil Chatterjee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The agency oversees the electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level.
40-year-old Chatterjee will play a key role in President Trump’s program to reshape energy policy, which is greatly opposed by environmentalists and Democrats. If the appointment is confirmed by the Senate, he will be the second Indian-American to be appointed by President Trump to a major regulatory position with a controversial mission
Chatterjee, who is an energy policy advisor to US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has played an integral role in the passage of major energy, highway and farm legislation, the White House said.
Prior serving to McConnell, Chatterjee worked as a principal in Government Relations for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association as an aide to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio.
Chatterjee’s work backed the Senator’s campaign against regulations to restrict the use of coal for electricity generation. He started as an intern with the House Works and Means Committee.
Chatterjee grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, where his parents worked in cancer research. He will likely deal with the construction of the Keystone pipeline that will carry crude oil from Canada to Texas. The project was stopped by former president Barack Obama.Last week, lawmakers expressed their concern over vacancy in this crucial federal regulatory commission.
I would like to see some names now. It's very frustrating that we are here at May 3 and there has not been a quorum at FERC for months now, said Senate Energy Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski.
"We cannot do much of anything in the energy space until there is a functioning quorum at the FERC. First, we need to get names so that we can actually act as a committee. Believe me, I am urging anybody who will listen that they need to get moving on it," she said.
The other Indian-American, who has been appointed for a key Federal role is Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Pai is spearheading the administration’s drive to end net neutrality, which prevents internet service providers from giving special treatment to preferred web companies. Chatterjee held the influential position of energy policy advisor to Senate Majo.
Sikh Community Demands Distinct Religious Category
AMandeep

In a rare judgement, a civil court on Tuesday granted divorce to an NRI couple after hearing the woman petitioner, who is a Lonon based techie, through video conference.
The couple filed the divorce plea by mutual consent under the section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, before a Pune civil court on August 12, 2016.
Advocate Suchit Mundada who presented the woman petitioner said: "The couple, who are IT professionals got married in May 2015. However, barely within two months of their marriage, differences cropped up between them and they started staying separately."
Mundada’s client was unable to leave the United Kingdom for the court hearing, as the terms and conditions of her job did not allow her to leave.
"I, on behalf of her, filed an application before the court seeking permission to conduct the hearing through video conferencing, which the court agreed," said Mundada.
On April 28, the husband came down to Pune from Singapore, where he is working currently, whereas the wife appeared via video-conference.
Judge V.S. Maklapatte Reddy passed the judgment stating that the marriage between the parties’ stands dissolved under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
"Having considered the contentions of the petition along with the respective affidavits, it transpired that the parties have been living separately since June 30, 2015. They have not been able to live compassionately and have mutually agreed that their marriage should be dissolved," the judge observed.
The advocate claimed that this for the first time that a court has used technology to grant a divorce.
"Generally, physical presence of both the husband and the wife is necessary in the court in such cases," he said.
Pregnant Indian woman racially abused in Sydney
AMandeep

An Indian-origin man in South Africa allegedly strangled his 7-year-old son to death, while his 4-year-old daughter watched in terror has been arrested. The man is expected to appear in the court on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old man was separated from his wife, but a court granted him right to visit his children.
The suspect’s identity has not been revealed due to South Africa’s child protection law.
The mother reported to police officers after the father failed to bring the children back to home at the scheduled time, an uncle of the children said.
Police officers found the father wandering around a park with both the kids in his arms. He claimed that the boy was asleep. The children were rushed to a hospital where the boy was declared dead. His sister described how her father choked him.
Tracy Sinayhakah, who is the grandmother of those children said that she had received a chilling WhatsApp message from the father just before the alleged killing, asking her to tell his estranged wife what she was 'going to lose'.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thulian Zwane said that a murder case has been registered.
The cold blooded murder incident took place earlier this week. The incident has shocked the community of Phoenix, the sprawling township in Durban, which was created during the apartheid era to forcibly resettle the Indian community in the city.
Hyderabadi woman sold to Kafeel for Rs. 3 lakh
AMandeep

Chand Deep Kaur, who has been deserted by her Non Resident Indian(NRI) husband has sought help from the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Kaur and has requested to get her husband Ramandeep Singh deported from New Zealand. Though her husband has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Punjab police. Kaur has requested the minister for help, saying that she wants to send a message that no other NRI cheats his wife.
"I have sought Swaraj's help in getting my husband deported. He is in New Zealand," Kaur said.
She wants her husband’s passport to be cancelled, "I want to set an example so that no other NRI husband can ever dare to cheat a woman. I also want stringent laws in place to check such men," she said.
Kaur received a call from the ministry to send relevant documents in connection with the case.
She said that she wants her husband back to India, so that she can divorce him and start a fresh life.
They got married in July 2015, when Ramandeep Singh was working in Auckland as an accountant. Soon after the marriage Ramandeep returned to New Zealand and Kaur stayed with her in-laws in Jalandar, Punjab.
Ramandeep returned to India in December 2015 and returned back to New Zealand in January 2016, she said.
Kaur just spent 40-45 days with her husband, she alleged that her in-laws’ behavior changed after the marriage."They told me that they had disowned Ramandeep so I should move back with my parents," Kaur claimed.
When she tried calling her husband, he did not respond and members of her in-laws family refused to respond and blocked her number.
On August 2016, Kaur filed a complaint at the police station against her husband. Ramandeep faces charges of criminal breach of trust, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
A look-out circular was also issued against Ramandeep, she said.
Indian-origin disqualified as company director in the UK
AMandeep

In the ongoing hate crime against Indian community in the United States, Indian-origin women along with her son were brutally killed under suspicious circumstances in their residence at Mappleset, New Jersey.
The 40-year-old Telugu mother, hailed from Prakasham district and her son Anise Sai were found in a pool blood, when her husband Hanumantha Rao reached home. Rao immediately informed the emergency service about the incident.
For the past fifteen year’s software engineer Rao and his wife were staying in the United States.
Hanumantha Rao, is from the Timmarajupalem village of Paruchuri mandal in Prakasham district.
According to preliminary investigation at the scene of the incident, officials said that the woman had been attacked with a knife and she received critical cut on her throat.
Indians in China rush to help an unconscious Indian in Hospital
AMandeep

The people of Indian community in China have rushed to help a 35-year-old Indian man, who was found by the police, in an unconscious state on a road in Wuxi city.
Clueless about his identity, the members if ‘Indians in China’ first took him in a hospital. Currently, the man is in the ICU of the hospital.
The man was later identified as Dhavuth Hussain, according to his passport details Hussain is from Salem in Tamil Nadu and his visa expires in August this year.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate of General in Shanghai were also alerted about him.
The Indian community took the responsibility of Hussain and made enquiries. They found that he worked in a hotel.
‘Indians in China’ in a tweet reply said that the consulate officials in Shanghai visited Hussain in the hospital.
“Hussain’s family has been located. One of his friend’s is present in the hospital with him,” a representative of ‘Indians in China’ community said.
The Indian consulate will send another official to the hospital soon to investigate in the case.
The community said that Hussain is still unconscious.
‘Indians in China describe itself as a community that helps Indians visiting China or living in China.
Indian-origin priest stabbed in Melbourne Church
AMandeep